Introduction to Classical Civilizations: Hellenic (or
Greek)
Civilization (ca. 1000-4th century BC); Hellenistic Civilization
(4th-1st
Centuries BC); Roman Civilization (753 BC-AD 476). Major themes
and
emphases: Athenian (direct) democracy, the Golden Age of Athens
(5th
century BC), and Hellenic Civilization; Hellenistic Civilization as a
blend
of the Greek and the ancient Near Eastern; Roman Civilization with its
political genius that allowed it to conquer and rule for almost five
centuries
a vast empire centered on the Mediterranean Sea; Rome as the
assimilator
of the classical tradition; Rome as the cultural context in which
Christianity
was born, and Rome as the cultural bridge that transmitted both
classical
civilization and Christianity to Europe.

Classical or humanistic civilization emphasized matters
concerning
mankind and the making of this world into a better place; hence the
classical
tradition stresses rational and secular knowledge, liberty, freedom of
inquiry, the nobility of human achievement, and the worth of the
individual.
In pursuit of these goals, men and women of the Mediterranean world
produced
enduring works of art, architecture, philosophy, and literature, which
are still taught in schools and universities and read for pleasure and
instruction by people throughout the world.

Hellenic Greek Civilization

Map of the Greek
World.

The Mycenaean Prelude, ca. 2000-1000 BC: Earlier than 1600
BC, the Mycenaeans, an Indo-European people, settled in the Greek
peninsula,
especially the Peloponnesus, and mixed with the local peoples,
borrowing
elements of their culture (not unlike the migration of the
Indo-Europeans
into the Indian sub-continent). Much of what we know about the
magnificent
and powerful civilization they created comes from three sources, the
work
of archaeologists like the legendary Heinrich Schliemann, the Iliad
and the Odyssey, epic poems attributed to Homer, and the
deciphering
in 1952 of a language called Linear B. By 1600BC, the
Mycenaeans
had built a thriving civilization centered on cities like Mycenae,
Tiryns,
and Pylos; they build great palaces, buried their princes in elaborate
tombs, and established colonies.

The Lion's
Gate at
Mycenae

Mycenaean Tomb Mask

One consequence of Mycenaean colonization and trade was the
attack
on Troy, which took place about 1220BC. Although Homer tells us
the
war was over the abduction of Helen by the Trojans, the war probably
was
over control of trade routes along the coast of Asia Minor. Troy
was destroyed in the war, but Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey
remain as accounts of this epic struggle.

Combat between
Menelaus
and Hercules.

Within a century of the Trojan War, Mycenaean civilization
declined,
and we can only speculate as to the causes of this decline; perhaps
civil
war, perhaps raids by “sea peoples”; in any event, about 1000BC, the
warlike
Dorians overran Mycenae, forcing the original Mycenaeans to flee, some
to Attica (where the city of Athens survived), some to the coast of
Asia
Minor, where these peoples, later called the Ionians, would contribute
much to the shaping of classical Hellenic civilization. But,
before
this civilization reached its height in the 5th century BC, Greece had
to survive both the Dark Ages and the Archaic Periods.

The Greek Dark Ages, ca. 1000-800 BC.

1. The influence of Geography: the Mediterranean Sea and a
mild climate; many Greeks became traders, colonists, and pirates; hence
a cosmopolitan people; irregular coast and interior influenced the
development
of fiercely independent city states;

Map of Greece.

2. Virtually total decline of political, social, and economic
life
and the loss of literacy: knowledge from the Iliad and Odyssey;

3. Character of Greek religion: Greek religion, which was
polytheistic
and made up of stories or myths, served three functions: a) it
explained
or solved some of the mysteries of the physical world and gave man a
sense
of his relation to it; b) it accounted for man's stormy passions,
particularly
those that caused loss of self-control; and c) it provided a means of
obtaining
such blessings as good fortune, long life, skill in craftsmanship, and
good harvests. The Greeks expected explanations of the human and
natural world from their religion, not salvation from sin. An
immense
number of Greek gods and goddesses, and the most important are the
Greek
Pantheon of the twelve Olympian gods, including Zeus, the chief god and
the source of justice, Hera, his wife, Poseidon, his brother and the
god
of the seas and earthquakes; these gods behaved as mortals writ large,
and each city-state worshiped its patron deity by the performance of
rituals
and sacrifices. Greek religion stressed the basic values: “know
thyself”
and “nothing in excess” [i.e. the Golden Mean]; in short, Greek
religion
emphasized self-control and the avoidance of hubris, or pride.
The
more emotional side of Greek religion was associated with Dionysus, a
god
of drink and sexual license. Because the Greeks valued human
life,
they had little interest in an afterlife, conceiving of Hades as a
place
where a pale reflection of life on earth went on; they did see the
Elysian
Fields as a place of reward for the chosen of the gods and Tartarus as
a place of punishment for rebellious gods.

Bust of Zeus.

The Archaic Period, ca. 800-479 BC: Four Key Themes.

1. Greek colonization in the Mediterranean World:
Why?
trade and an outlet for expanding populations; Greek colonies founded
throughout
the Mediterranean World, including Spain, France, Corsica, Sardinia,
Southern
Italy, Sicily, North Africa, and the Black Sea; colonies allowed
diffusion
of Hellenic culture and culture contacts with other peoples that
fostered
cosmopolitanism of city-states like Athens.

2. The development of the Polis, or city-state (5 key
points):
a) small, about the size of an American county; b) political,
religious,
economic, and cultural life centered on towns; c) citizenship was
highly
valued by the few who possessed it and they were obligated to
participate
in public affairs; d) public life was intense and competitive and
helped
create an atmosphere encouraging individualism and achievements in the
arts, philosophy, and literature; e) citizens served in the army and
the
navy, especially in the Hoplite Phalanx; those who performed military
service
were able to demand increased political rights and spurred the
evolution
of city-states like Athens toward direct democracy.

The Hoplite
Soldier
in full armor.

Hoplites in
Battle.

3. The political evolution of Athens from monarchy to direct
democracy:
Monarchy (before 800 BC); Oligarchy (ca. 800 BC-594 BC); Evolution
toward
Direct Democracy (594-460 BC); Why? Pressure from the
hoplites
and those sold into debt slavery threatened the city; Wise individuals
like Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes, the “father of Athenian democracy”
(508
BC), and Pericles (460 BC) made needed reforms. Result:
Athens
(with a population of about 300,0000, one third of whom were slaves)
achieved
direct democracy during the 5th century BC: political power in
the
hands of the Assembly (40,000-50,000 adult male citizens meeting some
40
times a year); institutions like the Council of 500 and the Council of
50 governed when the Assembly was not in session; a court system;
executive
power in the hands of 9 Archons elected by the Assembly for a single
term;
military power in the hands of 10 elected Strategoi (= generals);
practice
of ostracism (exile by a majority vote of the Assembly). In
contrast,
Sparta developed into a culturally backward polis dominated by a
self-denying
military oligarchy.

4. The Persian Wars (490-479 BC): Challenge to Greek
civilization
from the Persians; Darius in 490 BC and Xerxes in 480-479 BC; key
battles:
Marathon (490 BC); Thermopylae (480 BC); and Salamis (479 BC).
Results
of Greek victory: a) Persian culture (a blend of ancient eastern
civilizations going back to the Sumerians) blocked from Europe; b) the
Greeks, especially the Athenians, gained great confidence in the
superiority
of their civilization; this confidence, in part, resulted in the Golden
Age of Athens, a brief interlude between the end of the Persian Wars in
479 BC and the outbreak of the Peloponnesian in 431 BC.

Map of the
Persian
Wars.

The Golden Age of Athens (479-431 BC)

1. Periclean Athens as a model for the Mediterranean World:
Pericles and the Athenians aspired to make Athens the most beautiful
and
powerful city-state in the Mediterranean world, a city that would be a
center for culture and a model for all to imitate. They succeeded
so well that Periclean Athens, Athens of the Golden Age, has been
admired
and imitated ever since. Nevertheless, a glance at the dates for
the Golden Age, a brief flourishing in the forty-eight years between
the
end of the Persian Wars and the beginning of the Peloponnesian War
reminds
us that Athenian pride, the very hubris they so often warned against,
helped
bring about their downfall.

2. The Parthenon as a symbol of the Golden Mean: During the
Golden Age, all of the arts, from architecture, vase painting, and
sculpture
to philosophy, drama, and poetry, were nourished, and each of these art
forms profited from interaction with other art forms. The
Parthenon,
built
by Ictinus and Kallicrates on the Acropolis between 477 and 438BC to
house
the cult-statue of Athena by Phidias, patron goddess of Athens,
combines
architecture and sculpture to form a whole that symbolizes the Golden
Mean,
the Greek search for balance, harmony, and order. Although not as
perfectly as the Parthenon, other Greek buildings aspired to the same
goal,
and all used similar techniques of construction, especially the post
and
lintel system, although the types of columns differed: the Doric, the
Ionic,
and the Corinthian.

The Acropolis Today

Reconstructed View of the Acropolis and the Parthenon

Cross Section of the Parthenon

The
Greek Classical Orders.

3. Greek sculpture (types,
not individuals; ethical and ennoble
man;
and idealized): Just as buildings like the Parthenon epitomized
Greek
culture, so did the sculpture of Praxiteles or statues like the Kritios
Boy; these statues are universal,
that is they have little or no
personality
and they represent types, not individual human beings; these statues
are
ethical in that they
serve to ennoble man
and to emphasize that true
nobility
consists of the beautiful and the good, the rational and the avoidance
of excess, again the Golden Mean; and, third, these statues are
idealistic,
they depict not nature or reality but perfection of form. And, as
we will see when we discuss Greek thought, the Athenians of the Golden
Age also excelled in philosophy (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) and
literature,
especially the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; many
of
the same characteristics present.

The
Kritios Boy.

The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) and its aftermath to the
Macedonian
Conquest (404-338 BC): Athens and Sparta fought a great civil war
and when it was over, Athens was defeated and turned into a subject
state
of Sparta; the defeat ruined the Athenian economy, destroyed its
democracy,
decimated its population, and brought on a moral decline. Between
404 and 338, various Greek city-states struggled for domination.
These wars weakened the Greeks and allowed their warlike neighbors, the
Macedonians of first Philip and then Alexander the Great, to conquer
Greece.
The political independence of the Greeks ended, but their culture was
absorbed
by the Macedonians and carried across the ancient Near East by
Alexander's
armies. Resulting from the intermixing of Greek and ancient Near
Eastern cultures was a new synthesis, the Hellenistic.

Hellenic Culture and Thought, 5th-4th centuries BC.

Greek Philosophy: The Greeks did not invent philosophy, but
they carried it to a higher level than any previous people. In
doing
so, they raised and tried to answer questions about the nature of the
physical
universe and the nature of man, about the nature of truth and beauty,
and
about the meaning and purpose of life. Much of philosophical
thought
since the 5th and 4th centuries BC has been a debate over the questions
they raised.

1. The Pre-Socratics (mid-5th century BC): Raised
scientific
and metaphysical questions; tried to answer them using rational modes
of
thought rather than mythological or religious ones.

2. The Sophists (mid-5th century BC): The Greek focus on
scientific
and metaphysical questions shifted about 450BC, when an intellectual
revolution
occurred in Greece, primarily in Athens because of its system of direct
democracy, its stress on individualism, and its need for solutions to
social
and political problems relating to the individual and society.
First
came the Sophists, who proclaimed: “Man is the measure of all things”
(Relativism).
What this phrase meant was that all things—goodness, truth, beauty, and
justice, for example—are relative to the needs and interests of man,
that
there are no eternal truths, no eternal standards of right and
wrong.
This radical skepticism taught, in other words, that only partial
truths
exists, truths that are valid only for a given time and place.
This
radical relativism occasioned a reaction from thinkers who
wondered:
how can any state or society be maintained if there is no Truth and if
goodness, beauty, and justice are relative?

3. Socrates (dialectical method), Plato (idealist), and Aristotle
(empiricist): Common elements: A) Real and absolute
standards
exist; B) Such real and absolute standards provide the moral foundation
for the governance of states and the regulation of individual lives; C)
Man, using his powers of rational inquiry, can understand what these
standards
are; D) Man, once he understands the nature of real and absolute
standards,
will live in accordance with them.

Greek Literature.

1. The epic: the Iliad and the Odyssey.

2. Greek tragedy (characteristics): Aeschylus (Oresteia,
themes
of guilt and punishment), Sophocles Oedipus and Antigone),
and Euripides. A) Little or no action on the stage; plot is
familiar
to the audience; little character development; B) Tragedy (like Greek
sculpture)
deals with types (i.e. Oedipus); C) common themes are the conflicts
between
individuals and the laws of the universe; D) the fall of the hero
usually
results from a flaw and an offense that disrupted the moral order of
the
universe; and E) the purpose of the plays was to depict human suffering
and to portray human actions so as to purge the emotions of the
audience
by representing the triumph of justice.

The
Theater in
Athens.

3. Greek comedy. Lysistrata by Aristophanes.

4. Greek history writing: Herodotus (ca. 484-ca. 420 BC):
the
“father of history” and author of a history of the Persian Wars; he
sought
to understand the nature of human behavior and draw lessons for the
present
from the study of the past. Thucydides (ca. 460-ca. 400 BC): the
“founder of scientific history” and author of a history of the
Peloponnesian
War; he wrote to provide lessons about human behavior in politics for
future
statesmen and generals.

Hellenic (classical culture): adopted and adapted by the
Macedonians;
a key element in Hellenistic civilization; adopted and adapted by the
Romans;
and the cultural context for the birth of Christianity.

Hellenistic Civilization and Thought, 4th-1st Centuries BC

Introduction: Hellenistic Civilization refers to the
sophisticated
civilization that developed in the territory conquered by Alexander the
Great (4th century BC). It was a blend of Greek culture with the
old oriental cultures of Egypt and the Near East; from this interaction
emerged a cultural synthesis that not only inspired major achievements
in
the
arts, in science, and in philosophy but also provided the intellectual
and social context in which Christianity was born. The unifying
language
for this civilization was Greek.

A Man who changed the course of historyHis conquests open a new era in human history and in the history
of classical civilizationThe city-state with its unique civilization was replaced by
immense
monarchiesGreek culture spread east and blended with Oriental cultures,
transforming
both

Alexander's campaigns (336-323 BC), from the Greek peninsula to
the
Indus River.Alexander's failure to consolidate the empire he conqueredThe tripartite division of Alexander's empire: the Ptolemaic, the
Seleucid, and the Antigonad

Map of the Hellenistic World
after the Death of Alexander the Great.

Hellenistic Culture: The creation of great empires during the
Hellenistic period meant a loss of freedom for the citizens of the
polis
and led to its decline as a political and cultural center. As a
consequence,
the Greeks and the other inhabitants of the cities turned their
attention
from political and public matters and focused on the personal and the
individual
in religion, philosophy, and the arts.

Model of
the
Upper City at Pergamon.

Hellenistic Religions: Worship of monarchs and emperors as
gods or demi-gods; the development of personal of mystery religions,
such
as the worship of Isis or the Great Mother Goddess; mystery religions
featured
the attainment of personal salvation, often through the mystical union
of the worshiper and the god, and elaborate rituals; they offered no
ethical
teachings; intellectuals turned to philosophy.

Hellenistic Art: It built upon its Greek heritage (values
of
the Golden Mean and idealism) and transformed it: Hellenistic art and
architecture
favored the larger-than-life (the Pergamon Altarpiece or the Mausoleum
of King Mausolus); exaggerated realism (The Boxer or The
Laocöon);
and the emotional and melodramatic.

The Altar of
Zeus
from Pergamon (now in Berlin).

The Laocoon.

Hellenistic Literature: Less important than that of
Periclean
Athens; characterized by Polybius (ca. 200-120 BC), author of a history
of the rise of Rome, and comedies by Menander (4th century BC) and
others;
important was the great Library of Alexandria, with its 500,000 volumes
and scrolls.

Hellenistic Science: An important field of study; textbook
summaries by Galen (medicine) and Ptolemy (the Almagest,
geocentric
cosmology)

The Cosmos
According
to Ptolemy.

dominated European scientific thinking until the Renaissance;
also
important were Euclid, Archimedes (the lever and pi), Hero of Alexander
(the steam engine),

Steam
Engline
by Hero of Alexander.

and Eratosthenes (circumference of the earth at 24,662 miles).

Hellenistic Philosophy: Cynicism; Skepticism; Epicureanism
(materialism; denial of divine intervention; human happiness is the
highest
good; intellectual pleasure superior to the physical); Stoicism
(universe
is an organic whole governed by universal Reason; man is rational and
can
live in harmony with the universe, practicing courage, justice,
temperance;
brotherhood of man; natural moral law as a source of law); and the
Eclecticism.

Conclusion: The Hellenistic world is conquered by the
Romans,
who absorb both Hellenic and Hellenistic culture and transmit it to the
lands they conquer. The Romans = a historical bridge.

Roman Civilization, 753 BC-AD 476

Major Themes of Roman History: 1) Create a Republic and
achieve
domination over Italy south of the Po River by the early fourth century
BC; 2) Achieve domination over the Mediterranean world and Europe to
the
Rhine and Danube Rivers by AD 100; 3) Created institutions and a legal
system (code law) that allowed
Rome to govern this empire effectively; 4) Crisis of the Third Century
almost brought about the collapse of Rome; 5) Rome recovered and was
converted
to Christianity; 6) Explaining the fall of Rome in 476 has interested
thinkers
every since.

The Roman
Empire.

Chronology: Roman Republic and Empire

1. Roman Civilization from its origins to the end of the
Republic,
753 BC-27 BC.

Early Italy and the Roman Monarchy, 753-509 BC.The Roman Republic, 509-27 BCThe Creation of the Republic and the Conquest of Italy, 509-264
BCThe Punic Wars (with Carthage) and the Overseas Expansion of Rome,
264-146 BCThe Crisis of the Late Republic, 133-27 BC.

2. Roman Civilization from the Creation of the Empire to its
Fall,
27 BC-AD 476.

The Principate (Early Empire), the Pax Romana, and the
Five
Good Emperors, 27 BC-AD 180.The Crisis of the Third Century, AD 180-284.Late Antiquity, AD 284-610.

Key Themes of Roman History.

1. The Creation of a Republic and a System of Government
for
Captured Lands within Italy. Based on an unwritten constitution
and
controlled by the Patrician elite; executive power rested with two
consuls
elected from the Patricians and granted their authority (the imperium)
by the Senate; the Senate (300 Patricians; later 600) controlled
finances and
foreign
affairs; the Assembly had very limited power. Republican
government
was flexible, and over time the Plebeian class gained a measure of
political,
legal, and social equality, including the creation of the office of
Tribune
(had a veto to protect the Plebeians), the Law of the 12 Tablets (450
BC),
and the opening of the office of consul to the Plebeians.
Captured
lands allowed independence and autonomy in exchange for loyalty; rebels
received swift and brutal punishment.

The Roman Curia
(where
the Senate met).

The Interior of the Roman Curia.

2. The Overseas Expansion of Rome. Between 264 and
146
BC, Rome fought the three Punic Wars with Carthage; the high point for
the Carthagians was the campaign of Hannibal during the second war; by
the end of the Punic Wars, Rome dominated the Mediterranean
world.
Rome had to develop a system of government for the new territories;
also
Roman civilization transformed by contact with Hellenic and Hellenistic
culture.

The Punic
Wars
(264-146 BC)

3. The Crisis of the Late Republic, 146-27 BC. Roman
republican government proved incapable of transforming itself into a
government
for an empire; the result was a struggle for power between the
Patrician
and Plebeian classes. Powerful generals with private armies
emerged
and fought openly for power. one of the most successful was
Julius
Caesar (49-44BC), who "crossed the Rubicon" and became dictator in 49
BC.
Within five years, he was dead. The civil wars went on until
Octavian
defeated the last of his rivals, Mark Antony (and Cleopatra) at Actium
in 31 BC.

Bust of Julius
Caesar.

4. The Creation of the Empire. Octavian (after 27 BC:
Augustus): restored peace, provided fair, orderly, and efficient
government,
and peace within Rome and its territories; his government was a
monarchy
with a republican façade;

The
Emperor Augustus.

the army was professionalized (20 year enlistment; good pay and
pensions).

A typical
Roman Centurion.

A Roman
Legionaire.

A Roman Legion in Formation.

Four emperors after Augustus were members of his family (the
Julians);
none were great, and some, like Caligula, were so bad that they were
assassinated.
Evident was a key problem: succession. Reign of the Five
Good
Emperors (AD 96-180): a) temporarily solved the succession problem; b)
the Senate became an effective legislative and administrative body; c)
an imperial bureaucracy administered the empire; d) Roman culture
spread
throughout the empire; and e) the empire ceased expanding and began
building
defenses (Hadrian's Wall in Britain).

Map of the
Roman
Empire in the 1st Century AD.

Hadrian's
Wall (boundry
of the Roman Empire in Britain).

5. Roman Civilization.

Model of
Imperial
Rome.

Law: an early codification was the Law of the Twelve
Tablets
(c. 450 BC); supplemented over the centuries by edicts and judicial
decisions;
also a "law of the peoples" for those conquered; two systems combined
in
AD 212; notable codifications: Theodosian Code (AD 438) and the
Justinian
Code (6th century).

Science and Engineering: favored compilations of
encyclopedias,
like the Pliny the Elder's Natural Science, over original
research.
Engineering: roads, bridges, aqueducts like the Pont du Gard
(France),
which brought millions of gallons of fresh water into Roman cities.

The Pont
du Gard
(France).

The Romans also excelled at urban planning.

Model of a
Roman
Military Camp.

Architecture: Much borrowed from the Greeks, i.e. form of
the
temple; excelled in the use of concrete, the arch, the vault, and the
dome;
important buildings: the basilica, the Colosseum (sat 50,000),
the
Pantheon (a domed temple to all the gods), public baths and theaters,
triumphal
arches and columns, such as Trajan's Column. The Roman style
emphasized:
grandeur, magnificence, size, and solidity.

The
Colosseum.

The
Exterior
of the Pantheon.The Interior of
the
Pantheon.

Trajan's
Column.

Literature: not as profound as Greek literature; important
figures include Cicero (106-43 BC), who won fame as an orator and
writer
about rhetoric, and Virgil (70-19 BC), author of the Aeneid, an
epic which recounts the founding of Rome and whose hero embodies the
traditional
Roman virtues (duty, responsibility, serious purpose, and patriotism).

6. The Crisis of the Third Century, AD 180-284.
Characterized
by succession crises; civil war (between 235-284, there were 22
emperors,
and all but two were murdered); economic hardship, including declining
production, inflation, and high taxes; threats on Rome's frontiers from
the Goths and others; and the growing popularity and spread of
Christianity.

7. The World of Late Antiquity (AD 284-610). The
slow,
almost unnoticeable transition from the classical civilization of Rome
to the emergence of separate barbarian kingdoms following the collapse
of the Roman Empire. It thus includes the transformation of the
Roman
Empire by the emperors Diocletian and Constantine,

The
Palace of
Diocletian at Split (Croatia).

the shift in the governing center of the Empire east to cities
like
Constantinople, the legalization and triumph of Christianity (Emperor
Constantine
and the Edict of Milan, AD 313),

Bust of the
Emperor
Constantine.

the barbarian invasions by Visigoths, the Vandals, the Ostrogoths
(Theodoric the Great and Ravenna),

the "fall of Rome"--traditionally assigned the date of AD
476--and
the replacement of the political unity imposed by the Roman Empire with
separate and often warring Germanic kingdoms like the Franks.
From
the ambitions of these latter kingdoms emerged the nations of modern
Western
Europe. Also: urban decline, decline of government and
culture.
Meanwhile, Christianity emerges as a unifying and civilizing force.

The
Place of Theodoric the Ostrogoth (from S. Apollinare nuovo, Ravenna).

The Tomb of
Theodoric
the Ostrogoth (Ravenna).

8. Decline of the Roman Empire. Dynastic succession
problems;
bureaucratic corruption; inequitable economic burdens; regional,
racial,
or ethnic tensions; decline of morale and martial spirit; moral
decline;
escapism and other worldly religions (Christianity); and external
enemies.
Hence Gibbon rightly asks: how did is survive for so long:
Rome expanded and conquests provided wealth for new conquests;
expansion
went on until there were not enough Romans to govern those conquered;
once
expansion stopped, so did the influx of wealth; without it, internal
prosperity
and defenses could not be maintained; hence the Germanic barbarians
triumph
and Rome "fell" in AD 476.

The Rise and Triumph of Christianity, 1st-6th Centuries AD

The Historical Context at the Time of the Birth of Jesus:
Roman
rule since 64 BC; Jews had considerable religious and political
freedom;
Culturally and intellectually indebted to Hellenistic civilization;
Palestine
a hotbed of religious activity and contenders were: the High Priests;
the
Sadducees; the Pharisees; the Essenes; and the Zealots.

Palestine
at the
Time of Christ.

The Life and Teachings of Jesus: Scanty knowledge comes
from
the synoptic gospels (Mark, ca. AD 70; Matthew, ca. AD
90;
and Luke, ca. AD 80-90) and John (AD 85-150 or
later).
Born in Bethlehem, c. 4 BC; lived in obscurity for 30 years, perhaps
working
as a carpenter; baptized at 30 by John the Baptist and proclaimed the
Messiah;
taught in the company of the 12 disciples for three years; His
message:
strict monotheism; repentance from sin; the brotherhood of man; the
Golden
Rule; he identified with the poor, the sick, and with outcasts like tax
collectors and prostitutes; opposed the religious ceremonialism of the
Pharisees; and prophesied the imminent coming of the Last Judgment and
the Kingdom of Heaven; tried and convicted in a Jewish court and turned
over to the Romans for execution in AD 29 or 30.

The
Baptism
of Christ (Baptistry, Ravenna).

Christ
before
Pilate (S. Apollinare nuovo, Ravenna).

Christianity Following the Crucifixion: Followers of Jesus,
believing that he was the Son of God and had risen from the dead, set
out
to convert the Roman Empire; in the process, they created a theology
(=systematic
body of religious belief) and broadened the appeal of Christianity by
proclaiming
it a universal religion, not just a Jewish religion; key role played by
the convert Paul, who-as author of the epistles [letters] -may be
called
the founder of Christian theology; many converts, especially among the
urban population of the eastern Empire; Paul beheaded in Rome during
one
of Nero's persecutions.

The Apostle
Paul
(Early Christian Mosaic).

The World of
the
Apostle Paul.

Christianity after Paul: Church develops as an institution;
the sacraments (baptism and the Eucharist); a separate priesthood to
administer
the sacraments; the organization of a church hierarchy modeled on the
government
of the Roman Empire, especially the institution of the office of
bishop;
over time, the Bishop of Rome (capital of the Rome Empire, site of the
martyrdom of Peter and Paul, and doctrine of Apostolic Succession)
recognized
as head of the church, or Pope. This organization allowed the
Church
to survive the collapse of Rome and helped it to convert the barbarian
Germans.

Portrait
of Saint
Peter (Icon).

Christianity in the Roman Age of Crisis: Third Century in
Rome
brought anxiety, political chaos, economic crisis, and disease.
Christianity
offered Romans facing a hard life in this world the promise of
salvation
and the hope of an eternal afterlife. But, Christianity offered
more;
hence what accounts for its success: 1) The Unity of the Roman world
and
the Pax Romana (Paul and others could travel and communicate
with
the early churches); 2) it is a syncretic religion; 3) it was young and
dynamic; 4) it had a moral code; it claimed to explain the existence of
sin and evil; and it was exclusive and absolute; 5) it had mystical and
sacred rites; 6) it appealed to the poor and the dispossessed; 7) it
had
a sacred text (OT and NT) and a history; and 8) it had an efficient
hierarchical
organization.

The Transformation of Christianity after its Legalization in AD
313
(Edict of Milan issued by Constantine); by 394, it was the Roman state
religion. But growth and success transformed Christianity: 1) the
building and decoration of public churches (Old Saint Peter's [AD 325]
in Rome a prototype);The
Exterior
of S. Apollinaire in Classe (Ravenna).

The
Interior
of S. Apollinaire in Classe (Ravenna).

2) doctrinal disputes (Arian Controversy and the Nicene Creed);

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,the Father, the Almighty,maker of heaven and earth,of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,the only son of God,eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from
Light,true God from true God,begotten, not made,of one Being with the Father.Through him all things were made.For us and for our salvationhe came down from heaven:by the power of the Holy Spirithe became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,and was made man.For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;he suffered death and was buried.On the third day he rose againin accordance with the Scriptures;he ascended into heavenand is seated at the right hand of the Father.He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,who proceeds from the Father and the Son.With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.He has spoken through the Prophets.We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.We look for the resurrection of the dead,and the life of the world to come. Amen.

3) canon of scripture (St. Jerome's Vulgate, or Latin
translation
of the Bible); 4) monasticism and the Rule of Saint Benedict.
The Church sought to require uniformity of belief and obedience to
Church
authorities (the Pope, bishops, and priests).

Manuscript from the Vulgate.

Saint
Benedict as
a Scribe.

The Abbey
of Monte
Cassino (Italy).

Early Christian Thought (4th-6th centuries): Work of the Church
Fathers
(early Christian intellectuals); two main themes: 1) preserve but
rethink
the classical heritage, which emphasized rationality and man living in
this world; 2) this world actually transitory, a testing place for the
faithful. Church Fathers include: St Jerome (340?-420); St
Ambrose
(340?-397); St. Augustine (354-430); and St Gregory the Great
(540-604).
Most notable was St. Augustine, a convert and author of the Confessions
and the
City of God, the latter a defense of Christianity against
charges that it was responsible for the barbarian Sack of Rome in AD
410.